Hello everyone! Today we are releasing new versions of two tools at once, again. Both OS: HVA Builder and OS: Voxel Viewer were updated (just in time for my birthday... err on the US Pacific Time Zone... which does not reflects my location at all). Anyway, today's features are very interesting, since both programs can be used to simulate the results of TurretOffset and PrimaryFireFLH tags (and more). Actually, much more. OS: HVA Builder was the big star of the day again and OS: Voxel Viewer has been updated as a bonus.

The current version of Open Source HVA Builder allows you to do everything that Stucuk's 2.2 work in progress version allows, except for screenshoting the whole directory, which is something that, by design, I won't add to the HVA Builder (maybe I'll add it to the OS: Voxel Viewer). Show Grid, Show Section Center, changing Palette (ok, in Preferences), Fire FLH simulation... it's all in 2.18. The other design changes were the way sections are highlighted and that default remaps are still red (I won't change it to white, in respect to other OS tools).

Here's the Open Source: HVA Builder 2.18's change log:

2.18
revisions by Banshee

- Updated: Voxel Engine updated to 1.50.
- Updated: Highlight section behavior has been overhauled. First of all, it is no longer red. Instead, it makes all other sections transparent and it also shows bounds size as a distinguishable transparent box. This option is no longer enabled by default.
- Added: Draw Grid. You can now add a transparent grid to the scene that gives you a reference of size. It works like a ground and you can even customize it by replacing GridTile.png inside Textures/Ground/ with another png file. If you want your image to repeat indefinitely, you must add Tile at the end of its name (like in GridTile.png).
- Added: Draw Section Center. You can now add another 3 axis to the scene at the center of the selection section.
- Added: Tools -> Simulators -> Turret Offset. You can now simulate the result of the TurretOffset tag used in art.ini/artfs.ini/artmd.ini in your model by playing with this option.
- Added: Tools -> Simulators -> Fire FLH Simulation and Draw FLH Bullet. You can now simulate the result of the PrimaryFireFLH, SecondaryFireFLH and other related tags used in art.ini/artfs.ini/artmd.ini in your model by playing with this option. Note that, at this moment, this tool may not work correctly with multi-sectioned bodies, like Mammoth Mark II.
- Bug Fix: Back face culling now works only in the voxel models. We’ve also fixed some lighting issues with Draw Center Lines/Draw Section Center.
- Bug Fix: Voxel Rendering engine has received several bug fixes.

Open Source: Voxel Viewer 1.84 has received a Fire FLH coordinates simulation as well and all rendering fixes from OS: HVA Builder 2.18. I think that the screenshot above says all. Here's the change log:

1.84
revisions by Banshee:

- Updated: Voxel Engine updated to 1.50.
- Added: Fire FLH Coordinates and Draw Fire FLH Bullet. You can now simulate the result of the PrimaryFireFLH, SecondaryFireFLH and other related tags used in art.ini/artfs.ini/artmd.ini in your model by playing with this option. Note that, at this moment, this tool may not work correctly with multi-sectioned bodies, like Mammoth Mark II.
- Fixed: Turret Offset is now reliable and it has been shorten to a single axis.
- Fixed: Back face culling now works only in the voxel models. We’ve also fixed some lighting issues with Draw Center Lines/Draw Section Center.
- Fixed: Voxel Rendering engine has received several bug fixes.

It WAS annoying to have to load the game at least once for every unit.
If you're lucky, you could make a screenshot of the map, if you had a large enough screen, and know your way around some triggers to have the Animation play on the waypoints.

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

Excellent news! Though when it comes to new settings I liked the 2.2 way, where you could disable grid/axis/highlight by pressing buttons on the top panel. Show section's center is a very useful feature, thanks for adding it.

Would it be possible to implement different model quality options like the ones VXLSE has? I'd like to use that Quad-Based 3d model setting in Voxel Viewer as it is sometimes better for making cameos, but so far only VXLSE has it.QUICK_EDIT

EDIT2: I can say that the TurretOffset is accurate, and the FLH Offset isn't accurate enough.

FLH Offset is a bit complicated indeed. My tests so far with Disruptor, Soviet Miner and few more units that I do not remember anymore seemed to be accurate. I had problems with Mammoth Mark II and IFV. IFV's result wasn't necessarily bad, but it did not seemed to be 100% accurate either. I'd say it was over 95% correct. But I can't say the same from Mammoth Mark II, which was a complete disaster.

Anyway, post the unit where did it fail and the expected FLH settings, so it can help me to track the problems. I want to understand exactly the reference position used as origin and the distance measure for the 3 axis (which doesn't seem to be the same, due to the false isometric projection of the game).

NucleiSplitter wrote:

help.chm does not come along with the installer, you might want to include that in the next release, it gave me an error.

Nope, but hvabhelp.chm comes along with the installer for a couple of versions already and I forgot to update the program to read it instead of help.chm. I'm always updating that help file by the way.

Anyway, you can fix this problem by replacing your VH_HVABuilder.exe file with this lightly updated one or by redownloading the OS: HVA Builder 2.18 in the URL showed in the first post.

NucleiSplitter wrote:

And one personal opinion, I liked the old highlight section better, this new one is hard to look at. Highlighting the canvas size is not really necessary

I'm still divided about making a separate feature for Draw Section Bounds or keeping it under Highlight Section. But the old make section get bloody red thing failed with models that were almost completely painted with remaps. And there are several of these models included in Tiberian Sun.

TAK02 wrote:

My only complaint is that we still lack an accurate FLHFinder for buildings, and by extent, SHP units.

Compat settings/ install folder change/ using the EXE in old installation /
run as admin etc., nothing makes it work.

Older HVA Builder 2.0c / 2.12, Stucuk's 2.2 WIP7 all work.

You probably had some sort of messed up registry data for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CnC Tools\OS HVA Builder\.

Anyway, you can fix this problem by replacing your VH_HVABuilder.exe file with this lightly updated one or by redownloading the OS: HVA Builder 2.18 in the URL showed in the first post. I've added a specific code to deal with these situations on it.

E1 Elite wrote:

Voxel Viewer still shows v1.82.

Sorry, but... where? How? Screenshot, please. Did you really install it or are you really running a 1.84 installation? Because it seem to be just impossible for me.

E1 Elite wrote:

Why not give option to cap FPS, it shows
like FPS: 11650.

I did not add it yet because I'm lazy. But it will be added in the next version.

E1 Elite wrote:

Any option for shadows?

Not yet. Shadows are far more complicated to implement.

Damfoos wrote:

Excellent news! Though when it comes to new settings I liked the 2.2 way, where you could disable grid/axis/highlight by pressing buttons on the top panel.

I will rework on the user interface of the program in the upcoming versions. But I'm a bit skeptic about mixing features that doesn't affect the model with the ones that affect it in the top. I'm considering a different approach.

Damfoos wrote:

Show section's center is a very useful feature, thanks for adding it.

You should thank stucuk instead. I must admit that I've implemented that more as a challenge .

Damfoos wrote:

Would it be possible to implement different model quality options like the ones VXLSE has? I'd like to use that Quad-Based 3d model setting in Voxel Viewer as it is sometimes better for making cameos, but so far only VXLSE has it.

Unfortunately, I'd need to rewrite a very relevant part of the engine to do that. So, don't expect it in a low term. However, at some point, I plan to bring VXLSE III's engine to both OS: HVA Builder and OS: Voxel Viewer. Somethings just need to be more matured before that happens.Last edited by Banshee on Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:09 pm; edited 1 time in totalQUICK_EDIT

I want to understand exactly the reference position used as origin and the distance measure for the 3 axis (which doesn't seem to be the same, due to the false isometric projection of the game).

for some reason 30° camera angle is giving me correct isometric results and not the 26.565° as written in wikipedia, which according to them should give the 2:1 ratio. I get that with 30°.

So for me TS/RA2 use exactly 30°.
In the years of SHP making, the 30° angle also always matched perfect the ingame FireFLH point. Once found the right point, it matches my 30° rendered SHPs on all facings.

That's pretty much my direction on 2.18 so far. It is 43/256 for forward, 43/512 for lateral and height. And that part seems to be fine. The problem is defining the origin in the object. Is it the center of the bounds of the body object only, or does it include all? Is it in the ground and, in this case, Height would have a higher weight?QUICK_EDIT

Great! It's definitely helpful as is, but it seems to me the true FLH is at the very front tip of the diamond that represents the firing origin (in HVA Builder at least) and not in the centre of it. The resulting effect ingame is that it is always a bit farther forward than expected._________________

Something that'd display the Miggie's FLHFinder.shp, extended in all four directions, of course, with its origin at the canvas' center is enough. The rest can be worked out easily enough with trial, error, and good-old school-math (not that complex maths at universities and college)_________________One and only developer of C&C S. True Supremacy.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRJ32BRTY8UPF49Ilq3rNDw
Skype: TAK02 Supreme CnC Mods

m7 wrote:

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

That's pretty much my direction on 2.18 so far. It is 43/256 for forward, 43/512 for lateral and height. And that part seems to be fine. The problem is defining the origin in the object. Is it the center of the bounds of the body object only, or does it include all? Is it in the ground and, in this case, Height would have a higher weight?

43 is when you have bounds matching the voxel size.
Since that can differ and also the header size in the hva, shouldn't it be something like this (done for all 3 axis, here shown for x only)...

1. get the scale according to the voxel Bounds
BoundsXscale = (Math.Abs(Bounds.MinX)+Math.Abs(Bounds.MaxX))/VoxelXsize;

2. get the scale of the transformation Matrix
e.g.
0.5 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
would result in a half as long X voxel while y and z are 1:1 size
thus factors like
transformXscale=0.5
transformYscale=1
transformZscale=1

3. take bounds scale factor and transformation scale factor and include them in the leptons calculation, using 43 for the 100% 1:1 scale
Since VSE has the imo annoying/confusing Y as height, not Z, the formulas would be
Forward=43*BoundsXscale*transformXscale / 256
Height=43*BoundsYscale*transformYscale / 512
Lateral=43*BoundsZscale*transformZscale / 256

That's something I doubt. [SHAD] uses PrimaryFireFLH=175,0,10 and this 10 is really near the floor.

I've made some tweaks on both OS: VV and OS: HVA Builder based on your feeedback. IFV is now getting accurate results. But some other models still fails, including SHAD, APACHE, 4TNK, ZEP and few others.

Something that'd display the Miggie's FLHFinder.shp, extended in all four directions, of course, with its origin at the canvas' center is enough. The rest can be worked out easily enough with trial, error, and good-old school-math (not that complex maths at universities and college)

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

Do not expect me to do that, TAK02. As I said before, I do not have enough information to make a tool that would reliably find FLH fire values under these conditions.

@G-E: I've added a new version of OS: HVA Builder to the SVN where you can compare your lepton size with Mig's, by changing the lepton size in the Preferences (at the Measures tab). This version also allows people to change the Bullet size, if some of you think it is too big or too small.

For now, I still prefer 43/256. It worked better on IFV, Rhino Tank and few other models.QUICK_EDIT

Is it really that hard to make just a grid with lepton-markings similar to Miggie's SHP that'd be even slightly accurate?

It'd be similar to the way we've been using the FLHFinder with screen-shots and the TechnoType on the waypoint where the anim plays (or with Ares' AttachEffect), just carried over to SHP Builder and extended into all directions... And without us even having to run the game.

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

Last edited by TAK02 on Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:52 pm; edited 1 time in totalQUICK_EDIT

EDIT: Importing might take too long, especially when you have a LOT of buildings. Isn't possible to incorporate your grid directly into SHP Builder?

Open the FLH grid in gimp as one layer, copy paste the building/unit frame from SHP Builder in gimp (make sure both are placed centered). takes you 3 seconds max (keep gimp open if you have to do it with multiple SHPs).
Find FLH.
done._________________SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings

1) The executable of OS HVA Builder 2.18 and later SVN builds will not work in the directory of OS HVA Builder 2.14, 2.1 or 2.2 WIP. It requires files that these editions do not have. You must install it from the package posted in the first post.

2) OS: HVA Builder does not require Windows XP compatibility at all.

3) OS HVA Builder requires OpenGL 1.5. If you have Windows 10, certain video drivers that support OpenGL 1.5 or higher in older Operational Systems may not be supported in Windows 10 at all, forcing the OS to load the awful Microsoft Basic Display Driver. In this case, the recommendation is really to revert to an older (and consequently better) version of Windows.

In Creator's case, the problem is either lack of OpenGL 1.5 support (sometimes the graphics card driver might be messed up and requires a restart) or invalid pallete (Palettes/TS/unittem.pal, Palettes/RA2/unittem.pal or whatever palette you have set as default does not exist in OS: Voxel Viewer's directory). I don't think he has an incompatible graphics card, because he runs other versions of OS: HVA Builder, as well as OS: Voxel Viewer and VXLSE III just fine.QUICK_EDIT

Then explain why I get that 'Error Initializing Engine' problem back when I used HVAB 2.12

Same goes for VXLViewer, I had that error when it's not set on Compatibility Mode for WinXPSP3, I have been using it ever since, my PC runs on Win7 Professional, so I guess it's the same for Creator's._________________(~>_<)~ -- Shoo~QUICK_EDIT

Running fine on Windows 7 without any changes to the launcher for me, on HVAB 2.12 as well, and same goes for vxl viewer. I also had 2.12 working on Windows 10 back when I had my good pc. So I'm guessing it's an issue where you're not fresh installing and it's not getting the required files/a required file didn't write properly due to permissions/antivirus? Or like Banshee said, video card simply doesn't support OpenGL 1.5_________________"Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything."

Hmm. I tried disabling Windows Bit Defender temporarily whilst I download the Voxel Viewer. Haven't tried removing the McAfee built on my laptop because I still feel skeptical upon doing so. I still got the same outcome.QUICK_EDIT

Hmm. I tried disabling Windows Bit Defender temporarily whilst I download the Voxel Viewer. Haven't tried removing the McAfee built on my laptop because I still feel skeptical upon doing so. I still got the same outcome.

McAffe is the WORST antivirus out there for one reason: You can no longer exclude folders from its idle scan. To top it off, it's impossible to keep 'infected' files out of quarantine long enough for you to register it as an exception. Shutting down idle-scan also meant not being able to add exceptions to it, which was the last straw.
I had that problem when trying and failing to get E:BfD to run (it was a trojan, apparently).
The solution: disable idle-scan permanently.

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

Last edited by TAK02 on Wed Dec 20, 2017 5:48 pm; edited 1 time in totalQUICK_EDIT

I tend to release things I create so that assets are never lost to hard drive problems, accidental deletion, or me having to pretend to care about rippers taking things from my project when it is done.

McAfee is just throwing a false-positive because it's junkware, even all 66 scans of virustotal say they're clean. I would suggest removing McAfee, BitDefender is good enough on its own and McAfee is only going to hurt you more than help.

EDIT: Also, if it's McAfee Security Scan Plus, its even more junkware as it doesn't actually do anything to protect your computer. It's basically an advertisement._________________"Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything."

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